Blinded by Rainbows
by Iris Amergin
Summary: A Final Fantasy Tactics music video, starring Izlude Tingel. War sucks. There's no two ways about it. PG for violent images.


Disclaimer: The song "Blinded by Rainbows" is written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and is performed by the Rolling Stones, so it sure as heck ain't mine. The character Izlude Tingel is a creation of Squaresoft, and I don't own him either.

** Blinded by Rainbows**

a Final Fantasy Tactics music video

by Iris Amergin

    
[Izlude Tingel stands alone in Riovanes Castle, sword in hand and clothes stained with blood. The room is strewn with dead bodies of Riovanes knights. His eyes are filled with horrific realization.]
_Did you ever feel the pain_
_That he felt upon the cross_
[Vormav, having already transformed with the Virgo stone, attacks Izlude. Izlude makes an attempt to parry, but fails and falls to the floor.]
_Did you ever feel the knife_
_Tearing flesh that's oh so soft_
[Izlude stands in the ruins of a town that has been devastated by the war between the Hokuten and Nanten knights. He turns to the knight standing next to him, but the knight shakes his head and turns away.]
_Did you ever touch the night_
_Did you ever count the cost_
[In the aftermath of the battle at Riovanes, Izlude leans against the wall, mortally wounded. Alma begs him to quit talking and save his strength, but Izlude shakes his head and tells Alma that Ramza was right all along]
_Do you hide away the fear_
_Put down paradise as lost_
[Izlude sits in a meeting with the higher-ups of the Shrine Knights. Vormav describes the Zodiac Brave Story. Izlude is spellbound, thinking of using the Zodiac stones to stop the war and create a better world.]
_You're blinded by rainbows_
_Watching the wind blow_
_Blinded by rainbows_
[Izlude tosses and turns in his sleep, haunted by dreams of the war's carnage.]
_Do you dream at night_
_Do you sleep at night_
_I doubt it_
[Izlude, Wiegraf, and several other knights inspect an area where a battle has already been fought. The ground is littered with the dead. Izlude closes his eyes, picturing the battle. A wizard casts a Fire3 spell on a group of archers.]
_Did you ever feel the blast_
_As the Semtex bomb goes off_
[Still in Izlude's imagination, a ninja continues attacking several already incapacitated opponents.]
_Do you ever hear the screams_
_As the limbs are all torn off_
[Izlude and the other knights travel through a town near the battlefield. A girl sits holding a letter--the notification of her father's death in battle--and crying. The other knights walk by, hardly noticing. Izlude trails behind, watching the girl.]
_Did you ever kiss the child_
_Who just saw his father shot_
[Izlude sits alone by the campfire, the others having retired for the night. He stares into the flames, confused and depressed.]
_Do you ever shed a tear_
_As the war drags on and on_
[Orbonne Monastery. Wiegraf calmly wipes blood from his sword. Izlude's sword is also bloodstained, but he is staring at the face of the man he has just killed.]
_Do you ever touch the night_
_Or is it just another job_
[As Wiegraf and the other knights approach the stairs leading to the underground book storage, Izlude pauses before the open door to the chapel, staring at the altar within and wondering if stopping the war is worth what he has done]
_Do you fear the final hours_
_Put down paradise as lost_
[Izlude fights Ramza in Orbonne Monastery. As he guards against an attack from Ramza, he speaks, asking Ramza why he is trying to stop the church.]
_Blinded by rainbows_
_And faces in windows_
[Ramza answers, speaking of the church's deception and evil. Izlude continues fighting and arguing with Ramza, but his eyes show confusionis Ramza right?]
_Blinded by rainbows_
[Again, Izlude tries to sleep, but cannot escape nightmares of the war.]
_Do you dream at night_
_Do you sleep at night_
_I doubt it_
[Izlude and Wiegraf sit at the campfire. Izlude hesitantly asks Wiegraf if what they're doing will really stop the war. Wiegraf says nothing.]
_Do you ever fear the night_
_Could it be the war is lost_
[Izlude, alone in a church, prays, searching for answers.]
_Do you fear the final hour_
_Do you kneel before the cross_
[A brief flash of Izlude speaking to Alma, then the scene quickly returns to Izlude and Wiegraf inspecting a battlefield, the bodies almost knee-deep in places]
_You're blinded by rainbows_
_Watching the wind blow_
[Another flash of Izlude speaking to Alma, and then the scene changes again to Izlude, waking up in the middle of the night with a scream.]
_Blinded by rainbows_
_Do you dream at night_
_Do you scream at night_
[Another flash of Izlude and Alma, then Izlude staring at Simon, who lies dying on the ground. He shakes himself and follows Wiegraf.]
_Do you smell of fear_
_Is your conscience clear_
[Another flash of Izlude and Alma, then Izlude sitting in bed, shaking, trying to will images of the war from his mind.]
_Are you caked in sweat_
_Are your clothes all wet_
[Izlude, speaking to Alma, cuts off, coughing. She worriedly tells him not to speak. He shakes his head and continues, telling her to give the Pisces stone to her brother.]
_Do you see the light_
_Is the end in sight_
[Izlude's eyes close and his breathing slows, then stops. Alma buries her head in his shoulder, crying, as the scene slowly fades out.]
_See the face of Christ_
_Enter paradise_
_I doubt it_


End file.
